Steering gear



Feb. 20, 1951 J. R. BRODHEAD STEERING GEAR Filed Oct. 30, 1947 John RBrod/7e aa Patented Feb. 20, 1951 UNITED ES PATENT OFFICE STEERING GEAR,

. John Brodhead, Blane, Tex.

Application October 30, 1947 Serial No. 1783.007

,3 Qlaims. 1

This invention =relates to new and useful improvements in steering gearsfor vehicles.

One .obgjectof the invention is to provide an improved steering gear ofsuch construction as to be particularly adapted for use with tractors.

Animportant object of theinvention is to provide an improved steeringgear of the worm and sector type wherein the worm bearing member isadjustable to shift the worm laterally to compensate wear of theintermeshing teeth of the worm and se ment.

Another-object ofthe inv ntion i tom vid a simple and-positive eccentricadius mentdev e ofsuch d ametricalamplitudcas toarrordminu mov ments!parts. whereby s nsitive adiu tments maybe readily made.

A further object of the invention is to -;provide an eccentricadjustment device involving rotati e s. wh e y th desired adjustment isaccomplished by a simple rotation .of one of the elements.

A construction designed to .carry out the invention will be hereinafterdescribed together with other features of the invention.

The invention will be more readily understood from a readingv of thefollowing specification and by reference to the accompanying drawing,wherein an example of the invention is shown, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal, vertical, sectional view of a portion of atractor steering housing containing a steering gear constructed inaccordance with the invention,

Fig. 2 is a diametrical, sectional view of an adjustable eccentricbearing collar,

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the collar,

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the steering gear, and

Fig. 5 is a transverse, vertical, sectional view, taken on the line 5--5of Fig. 1.

In the drawing, the numeral Ill designates the steering housing of aconventional tractor which has a bottom II, a front end l2 and adepending hollow front support I3. annular bearing boss I 4, integralwith the front end l2, extends inwardly therefrom and has aself-aligning roller bearing l5 seated therein. The bearing l5 includesa cone ring l6 which is splined on the front end of a conventional wormshaft IT. A worm sleeve I8 is also splined on the shaft ll so as to abutthe cone l6 and a worm i9 surrounds the medial portion of the sleeve andis integral therewith. The shaft l| extends longitudinally in thehousing Ill and the teeth of its worm l9 mesh with the teeth of alaterally disposed gear segment or sector which is fastened on the upperend of a steering spindle shaft 2| (Fig. :4). The elements which havebeen described are conventional and may vary in. accordance with themanufacture .of the tractor with which the invention is used. Steeringgears of the type involved connect the shaft 11 with a steering shaft 22by means of a universal joint 23; therefore, it is necessary to have anintermediate bearing support for the worm shaft.

The invention resides primarily in the intermediate bearing support,indicated generally, by the numeral '24. The support includes atransverse web plate 25, which may be integral with the bottom I] andsides ofthe housing It], adjacent andin rear of the support I3. Ahearing collar 26 surrounds the shaft and is rotatably mounted in acircular openin 21 in the plate 25. The collar 26 has an external,radial flange 28 provided with a plurality of spaced bolt openings 29and acentral annular boss 30 from which the flange extends. The flange28 bears against one sideof the plate 25. An annular shoulder 3| isformed .011 the boss 30 at its intersection with the flange and has asnug turning fit in the bore 21, but is less in width than the depth ofsaid bore to provide sufficient contact relief to assure easy turning ofthe collar.

The boss 30 is provided with an eccentric bore 32 through which the wormshaft ll extends in spaced relation thereto. At the rear end of the bore32, an annular packing recess 33 is provided for a packing ring 34 whichencircles the shaft. An annular bearing seat or counterbore 35 is formedin the outer end of the boss and an annular shoulder or enlarged seat 36is provided at the inner end of the counterbore. The bore 32, recess 33,counterbore 35 and seat 36 are concentric with respect to each other andhave a common longitudinal axis coincident with the longitudinal axis ofthe shaft ll; however, these elements are eccentric with respect to theflange 28 and boss 30.

The seat 36 has a roller bearing race 3! fitted therein. A cone 38,splined on the shaft I'i rearwardly of the worm l9, engages the rollers39 of the bearing. The collar 26 is fastened in place bydiametrically-opposed bolts 40 passing through two of the flangeopenings 29 and screwed into two of a registering set or ring ofscrew-threaded openings M in the plate 25 surrounding the bore 21. Whenthe shaft is first installed, prior to inserting the bolts 4!], thecollar 26 is turned or rotated to space the worm l9 laterally of thesector 20, the necessary distance to give the desired meshing of theworm and sector teeth. This adjustment permits an installation wherebythe initial slack or lost motion setting may be regulated.

When wear occurs between the intermeshing teeth and it is desired tocompensate the same, it is merely necessary to remove the bolts 40, turnthe collar 26 and screw said bolts into another pair of the openings 4|.To provide access to the collar, an opening 42 is cut in the bottom II.It is pointed out that the shaft l1 and the roller bearing members 31,38 and 39 are, at all times, solidly supported and that there are noloose parts. The collar is likewise mounted and constitutes a singleadjusting element, whereby the desired adjustment may be made. Byspacing the openings 4| relatively close to each other, it is obviousthat a minute lateral adjustment of the shaft 11 may be had because ofthe radial differences between the bore 32 and the position of saidopenings.

The foregoing description of the invention is explanatory thereof andvarious changes in the size, shape and materials, as well as in thedetails of the illustrated construction may be made, within the scope ofthe appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim and desire to seizure by Letters Patent is:

1 In combination with the worm shaft, worm screw and sector of a vehiclesteering gear, a transverse support through which the shaft extends, acollar surrounding the shaft and I- said support and a boss on theopposite side of Number tatably mounted in said support, said collarbeing said support having an eccentric bore in which the second namedbearing member is'mounted, and a fastener engaging the support and thecollar flange for securing said collar to said support in any one of aplurality of rotational positions.

3. The combination set forth in claim 2 wherein the inner diameter ofthe collar is substantially greater than the diameter of the worm shaftextending therethrough.

J OHN R. BRODHEAD.

REFERENCES CIT-ED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 Name Date Re. 20,637 292,927

Lipe Feb. 5, 1884 Fay et a1 Dec. 10, Schmal July 21,1931 Von BeulwitzOct. 27, Robbins May 2, Hokansson 1 Jan. 26, Goodman Feb. 12,

FOREIGN PATENTS Country Number Date Hammond et a1. 1;. Jan. 25, 1933'-Le Blond et a1 Oct. 18, 1904 1907 Great Britain July 13, 1945

